


Long Shots

by Lanfear_AlTelamon



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Crimes & Criminals, Explosions, Implied Sexual Content, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 11:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27969629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanfear_AlTelamon/pseuds/Lanfear_AlTelamon
Summary: A defective clone. A lonely assassin. And an unlikely partnership.
Kudos: 2





	1. The Stranger

RC-36559 -- Dolly

Dolly was a clone trooper. Not that she looked the part, with her long, extremely coarse, silver hair, soft cheekbones, brilliant green eyes, and of course, her boobs. She was the only person in the entire galaxy with a million brothers and none of them, absolutely none of them would be happy if they found out where she was. Dolly was sitting in the corner of a shitty bar in a backwater town on a planet populated by thieves and basic criminals. She was actually in this piss-poor bar waiting for one of these low-lifes. Why the hell had she decided to do this? She told everyone she was on a supply run, getting some more of this god-awful Priskan ale everyone loves. When in reality she was actually tailing her little brother’s latest boy-toy. Some would-be thief with stupidly handsome hair and a really tiny nose. She met him once and immediately knew that he was not nearly good enough for her brother. He was really cute though. Why do all of the cute ones have to be gay? Dolly mused on that thought for a bit.

“Who the hell are you?”

Dolly startled and immediately cursed herself for daydreaming about men and looked up and saw a hooded person blocking her light.

“Who’s asking?” Dolly replies.

“I dunno, maybe the only person standing in front of you?” The stranger says with a strangely soft yet menacing voice. 

“Well Only Person I hate to say it but that info is highly none of your business.” Dolly deliberately eyes the stranger up and down, noting that absolutely none of his facial features are visible. She spots the clothes and takes note of the expensive and durable dark mottled leather jacket and his deep brown, tight fitting pants that accentuate the elegant and powerful curves of his thighs. She also sees the leather boots, why so much leather, and how many credits did those boots cost? They were top notch quality, warm, insulative, and completely silent when doing any activity. Probably another thief, although based on the clothes, a very good one.

The stranger simirks, “Well what if I make that info my business? I pay handsomely to learn the names of every beautiful woman I come across. That and how lovely they look in the morning sunlight.” 

Was this guy seriously flirting with her? “Lucky for me, I’m uninterested.” Dolly waves her hand at the teeming bar “Why don’t you find a different female to bribe.” Gods the audacity of men!

“Oh but I don’t want to bribe any other women.” The stranger purrs while sliding into the seat next to Dolly, making her tense up and grab for her blaster. “I’m here to do one thing, that’s to cause trouble. What I don’t want is attention, nor do I want to get caught.”

Suddenly, impossibly, the stranger had a knife to Dolly’s side. How in the hell did he get that there so fast? “What sort of trouble did you have in mind? Does it involve robbing me? Or just interrupting my drink.”

The stranger chuckles “Neither actually, I’m here to kill someone.”

Dolly’s blood runs cold. What kind of trouble has she gotten herself into now? And why does she always seem to be a magnet for it? “Who exactly are you planning to kill? Hopefully not the bartender, I rather like him. And what does this have to do with me?”

“No no, I’d never kill Joey, he’s a good friend of mine. As for your second question, it seems we are tailing the same target. I just wanted to be sure you knew that this kill…is MINE.”

What? He was here to kill the button nosed freak my brothers dating? Why? “That’s your target? The mousey little drunk thief? Go ahead, the kill is yours. I’m only here to make sure that when he ends up face down in the gutter, he stays that way.” She is a horrible sister, she should be trying to help the thief, at least for her brother. She just can’t, not after meeting the brat and especially not after hearing him brag about the idiotic boyfriend he has been stealing from.

Silence. “So you aren’t his bodyguard?” 

“NO!” Why on earth would he think that? She’d been glaring at the maggot for the past hour, contemplating how much trouble she’ll get in if she just shot him here and now. This guy had to have noticed the way she was watching the snub-nosed imbecile, isn’t that the whole reason he worked his way over here? “So if you aren’t going to rob me, and you aren’t going to stab me, what exactly is your plan?”

“Well now that you mentioned it…” The stranger leans back in his seat and tucks one hand behind his head, still keeping the knife dangerously close to her side. “I was hoping you and I could leave this bar together, hop on a speeder and get the hell out of dodge before the joint blows up.”

“Before what happens? You’re going to blow the place up?” Dolly was starting to panic a bit. She was in no way prepared for any of this.

“That’s what I said, now I suggest we get moving before the thermostat on this dive gets turned up.” He was now pressing the dagger against her side so she had no choice but to rise in her seat. Well it was that or lose a liver. “Remember to tip.” He whispers into her ear. 

Dolly and the stranger start heading for the door. They got partway when a group or particularly ugly mercenaries, all Trandoshan, suddenly blocked their path. 

“Going somewhere Sven?” The tallest, and ugliest, of the mercs spat out like the words were foul. How great, first threatened and being kidnapped now she’s in the middle of a feud? Just. Her. Luck. Dolly quickly assesses her new opponents and notices that the stranger, Sven, had removed the knife from her side, leaving her the ability to grab her blaster. 

“Carlsko! So great to see you. In fact I am going somewhere; right out that door. It was getting a little stuffy in here but it always seems to do that when you show up.” The stranger says, his voice dripping with sarcasm and contempt. 

“You aren’t going anywhere Sven. We finally caught you, and now, after all the money you stole, I’m going to take what I’m owed. From your HIDE!!” The mercenaries, almost acting as one launch forward to kill Sven. Unfortunately for them Dolly was in between them and their prey, and she was armed. 

Two mercs were down on the ground, before the others had time to realize what had happened. By the time anybody looked to see what the commotion was about Dolly was racing out the door and Sven had slipped past the remaining Trandoshan and tossed a grenade into the bar as he made his quick exit. “See yah in hell boys!” Sven salutes as he runs for the street.

A few moments later the bar and everyone inside was ashes, Dolly and Sven were thrown across the street by the blast and ended up tangled in each other as they landed in an alleyway. They both untangle each other and assess themselves to see if they need medical attention. Thankfully no serious injuries befell them, mostly just a lot of dirt and grime; with a healthy layer of soot from the smoke coating their backs. Dolly looks up from the minor cut on her leg to see Sven take his hood off. Gods he was GORGEOUS! His face was that of a model, with perfect lips, a stern jawline and a perfectly normal nose and although it was covered in soot and dirt, he had a hint of stubble on his chin. His hair had loosened from their bindings, showing off the metallic bronze colour making it look almost like spun gold. But the most stunning feature, what captivated Dolly the most was his eyes. His two different eyes. On the deep purple of a stormy sea, the other the deep orange of a sunset in the desert. They were stunning. So stunning that it took Dolly a moment to realize that he was staring at her.

“What?” he asks with a frown.

Dolly, knowing that she needs to say something, tears her focus from his eyes and says “Sven? That’s your name? Really?”

Sven looks at her in confusion, tips his head back and laughs.


	2. The Clone

Sven

“Sven? That’s your name? Really?”

“What can I say? I hate being predictable.” He groaned. Who was this chick? She just gunned down two of the most brutal debt collectors in the Outer Rim and almost got blown up and she’s questioning his name? 

“Well Sven I have to say, you aren’t boring.” She says while brushing herself off. Even covered in soot and debris she looks amazing. Her silver, almost wool like hair, the moss-green eyes and the fighters figure. “Well it’s been nice but I’m going to leave you to your gutter.” She turns to leave.

“Wait!” Sven groans and pushes himself off the ground. Wow he is going to feel THAT tomorrow. “I don’t even know your name.”

“And?”

“Well you know mine. It’s only fair.”

“Well seeing as how you held me at knifepoint and just tried to blow me up I’d say we’re even.”

“Blow you up? I was blowing up the bar full of thieves and backstabbers that you were shooting at. I did you a favour!”

“A favour?! I wouldn’t be standing here arguing with you if you hadn’t tried to stab me!”

“Yah, you’d be in there” Sven says, gesturing to the smoking crater across the street. “We need to get moving before anyone comes looking for the people who did this AKA us.” He can already hear the speeders coming and he suddenly remembered the galactic cruiser that was in orbit when he arrived. He has maybe 3 minutes before a squad of clones arrive and start shooting.

“Us? You threw the grenade, there is no us, only you.” She says before turning and disappearing into the shadows. 

Two hours later, and the next town over, Sven contemplates how royally he fucked up and how he’s going to report this to his boss. How will he explain how he was right about to kill that insect-faced looser when he spotted her. The strange, gorgeously deadly woman who was shadowing the target, the one that looked like a bodyguard. How will he explain that he decided to go and talk to her instead of just killing her; that was the job, kill Matiun and anyone who gets in the way. But for some reason he couldn’t, he had to know why the woman with silver hair was there, and for some asinine reason, he HAD to know her name. Nothing else mattered.

Why is he thinking about her? He’s supposed to be contacting his boss to tell him that the job was done. For the sake of his hide he won’t even mention her.

“Report.” The gravelly voice of his superior flooded the room. Sven walked over to the communicator on the desk.

“Target neutralized.” He replied.

“Good.” A moment of uncomfortable silence as Sven waits for his boss to cut off comms. “We have another task for you.”

“Where?”

“Still on Seswenna.”

“What’s the target?”

“The lover of your previous assignment. RC-5108/8843. Known as Corr. Be quick.” The communication cuts off as Sven sits in silent disbelief. A clone trooper? They want him to kill a clone trooper? Why? And more importantly how?


	3. Trouble

RC-36559 -- Dolly

“Where the hell have you been?” shouts Darman Skirata, Dolly’s older brother. “You snuck out last night, where did you go?” 

“I just went for a walk Dar. I lost track of time.” Dolly hates lying to Dar but he can’t know where she had been. Especially not after they heard about the explosion in the town only a few clicks away. “I didn’t know you’d be so pissy that I left you behind.”

“Lost track of time? Dolly, you never lose track of anything, let alone time. Where were you really?” If Dar keeps asking she knows she’ll cave and tell him, she can’t keep secrets from her brothers, as much as she tries. 

“I told you I went for a walk. I just got sidetracked, practicing my aim, and I stayed later than intended okay?” Shit, she needs to stop changing the story, and she definitely can’t think about Sven. 

Dolly stands and starts walking to the door of her room. “I didn’t get much sleep last night so, if you don’t mind, I’m going to get breakfast and then crash.” 

“No, you aren't,” says Atin as Dolly walks right into him, nearly giving herself a heart attack.

“What the hell, Atin! I told you to stop being so sneaky!!” Atin, her oldest brother and most protective lout in the galaxy. If he knew that she had almost been blown up by some stranger, he would hunt him down and rip him to pieces. Probably best not to tell him. 

“It’s my job to be sneaky, Dolly. We need to get moving, we have a training exercise to get to.”

“Really? This early in the day? I thought we were doing a night hunt?” Dar questions. 

“Well, after that explosion Dad wants us to move our training to further into the desert.”

“Further into the desert? How much further?” Dar asks with as sceptictical tone. “I hope this isn’t like the last desert planet we visited. Do you remember that Atin? The freaking scorpion things?” Dar shudders. “Hated those.” 

Well that makes two of them. Dolly hates bugs, she’s okay if it’s just one but multiple, or large ones give her the creeps.

“Far enough that nobody from the town will find us. This is supposed to be a training exercise to help us enhance our talents. We don’t want anyone knowing what we can do.” Atin replies in a straightforward tone, looking directly at Dolly.

“Why do you always look at me when you say that? Every time we go for a ‘secret training exercise’ you look at me like I’m a moron and don’t know that it’s purely for MY benefit.” Dolly claims exasperated.

Good lord. She knows she’s not supposed to be associated with the clones, especially since she isn’t supposed to exist. She can thank her father for that, Kal Skirata. He saved her from Kamino after it was known that she was not a he, misogynistic bastards, and took her to his home and raised her with the Null’s. 

It was nice for a while but she wanted to help in the war so she followed her dad when he went to train the Omega Squadron. That’s where she’s been ever since with her new brothers, Atin, Darman, Niner, and Corr. 

“Come on Dolly, we don’t want to be late for dad’s briefing. I’d rather not leave without water. Or a hat.” Dar said as he guided her from her room. 

She liked Dar, he was about the same age as her, and had a lovely sense of humor. He was a very brotherly man. Atin was older, and a lot tougher, using everything he knows to protect his brothers and his squad. She always enjoyed getting to make up stories for his scars. 

“Hello slow pokes! Get lost on the way out of the mess hall Dar?” Niner says while standing outside the barracks. He was in full gear with his helmet tucked under his arm as usual. Niner was a joker, always teasing but always pushing you to do better, even though he was younger than the rest of the squad. Well almost the whole squad, the last member was Corr. The youngest. And the brother Dolly has dreaded seeing today.

“Have you seen Corr yet Niner?” Dar calls out as he bounces down the steps. “He wasn’t at breakfast and I don’t think Atin saw him.”

“No I didn’t.” Atin confirms with a deadpan voice.

“He was talking with dad last I checked, that’s why they both aren’t here yet.” Corr answers. “I think it had something to do with that explosion in town.”

“Does dad think he set the bomb?” Dar asks, concerned.

“I don’t know.” Niner replies, looking towards dads quarters with a look of deep concern. Then turns and starts quietly chatting with Atin.

She hopes she didn’t get Corr in trouble. If that happens, she’ll have to tell them that she was there, and what happened at the bar. Including that she watched Corrs delinquent boyfriend get minced by a grenade. She hopes she doesn’t have to say anything about that. She knows that it will just make him ask more questions than answers, like why she was following him, why did an assassin come to kill him, and why she didn’t kill the assassin. 

That last question was one she’d been asking herself all night. Why didn’t she shoot him? She just stood up and walked away while he was laughing at her. She should have killed him on principle for laughing at her like that but she couldn’t. She keeps wondering what was wrong with her. Why did she let that arrogant, sadistic, knife happy assassin live? 

His eyes. The answer popped into her head suddenly, It was his eyes; those beautiful eyes that were full of laughter. And his hair, the color of burnished bronze, gleaming like gold in the fire. And his body. His perfectly sculpted muscles rippling under his skin tight shirt, and his ass….in those leather pants….Mmmm. 

“Dolly!” Dar shouts, snapping his fingers in Dolly’s face to get her attention. “Pay attention!” He hisses as she notices her father standing in the doorway to the mess hall, Corr already standing with the rest of the squad.

“Listen up! As you probably heard you are going to be further away than intended. This is due to the fact that someone fragged Corrs boyfriend last night.” 

Oh God, Corr knows? Dolly glances out of the side of her eye to look at Corr. 

“Now usually a grenade going off in a shady bar wouldn’t make us change our plans, but Corr informed me this morning that he was supposed to be with Devos at said bar.” 

Devos!! That’s the little lowlife's name! Corr was supposed to be there? Was he the target? No he couldn’t have been, she’d know, the assassin wouldn’t have blown up the bar if Corr was the target would he? 

“I don’t like when my boys are threatened, I like it even less when an attempt on their life has been made. Which is why I’ve moved the training. We have a limited time on this rock, and I intend to use it! So while you are all out, I will be hunting for the person responsible for the explosion and learn the truth.” 

Oh no, she’s in deep shit now.


	4. The Desert

Sven

Sven was laying on a rocky outcrop facing towards the clone base staring through his scope. He was watching a dropship get loaded with gear and the clone squad climb in back. He was specifically watching the clone with the cybernetic arms. He was the target.

He could have shot him then and there but he also didn’t have a death wish. Shooting now would only give away his position, sure it would kill the target, but then the whole squadron and probably the rest of the base would be onto him. He didn’t make it this far in the assassins lifestyle by being fast and reckless. He took his time. He made sure he was never spotted, and never caught. 

He wiped his brow, damn it was hot out. He put the gun down and looked at the base without for a moment. It was small at this distance, the dropship no more than an odd looking podracer and the clones like little plastic soldiers. He was a long way away, it was going to be hard to see where the ship goes, and even harder to follow without being spotted. 

This was a crazy job. He doesn’t usually mix himself up in the galactic war, he usually refuses the political jobs, like killing senators and high ranking military. But he had no choice this time. He never really had the choice to begin with, his employers just never wanted to get noticed, so they sent him to kill the rival gang lords, thieves, and assassins. 

Sighing, he looked back through the scope and noticed that the Squadron was boarding the ship. He counted five of them. 

“That’s strange.” he muttered to himself. 

This squad was only supposed to have four clones. Maybe it was a pilot? He upped the magnification on the scope to look at the clones in more detail. No it can’t be a pilot, he has similar markings as the Squadron, and he wasn’t heading to the cockpit. Was his intel wrong? 

His employer has access to the clone database, he would have seen how many clones were in the unit. How can that intel be wrong? Maybe they are training a new recruit? Not likely. They wouldn’t go off base for that.

Sven lifts his head away from his rifle as the ship takes off. He gets up and runs to his concealed speeder, slinging his gun across his back. He can’t lose the ship. Failure is unacceptable in his line of work. He’ll just shadow the squad in the desert and make his move then.


	5. Funny Feeling

RC-36559--Dolly

She was being watched. She was sure of it. 

It had been at least six hours after she had been dropped off in the desert with instructions to hunt down her brothers and neutralize them. She’d had this odd feeling since the goal of the exercise was being explained. She felt like there was someone else observing them, but she didn’t spot anyone. 

Out here though, she knew she was being followed. Someone was following her, deliberately and menacingly. Not one of her brothers, they’re good, but not that good. Okay, Atin maybe but he would have caught her hours ago, this felt different. 

Dolly knew she had to lay a trap, or at least catch a glimpse of who was following her but she had no ideas of how to do that. She was in the middle of the desert with sand all around her and felt the eyes on her. She knew a few things though, whoever was watching her doing so through a scope of some kind. She could actually feel the barrel of a gun following her every move. 

This wasn’t good. But maybe….maybe it could help. If they have a gun scope trained on her, it would have a small field of view, so if she suddenly moved fast in one direction she could suck out of sight for a moment, giving her enough time to hide and look for the stalker.

She looked around and noticed a little series of gorges off to her left, the entrance only a few feet from where she was. If she could get out of sight long enough to make it to the gorges, she could lose the stalker and maybe catch a glimpse of who they were. She decided to go for it. Her brothers could wait. The training could wait. This was more important.

She suddenly threw herself to the left and rolled into the gorge. SHIT! It was a lot deeper than it looked!

Dolly scrambled to get a handhold as she slid down the slope at an unchecked speed, her armor bouncing her off the rocks and uneven surface. She grabbed a hold of a small outcropping and cried out as her left arm wrenched in it’s socket. She counted to five and waited for her vision to clear, painfully aware that if she didn’t lose the sniper, they would know that she is aware of them and they’d probably shoot. 

Nothing happened. Did she lose them? Hopefully yes. 

She looked around and gently slid her way down the rest of the gorge slope. Landing on her feet, she looked around and realized that although she may have lost the stalker, she had also put herself in a sniper’s paradise; straight gorges with high walls, easy to hide on platforms and no hiding place for the prey. 

Fantastic. 

Dolly started running. Better to keep moving and be unpredictable, she may just find the people hunting her before they could locate her. That and she’ll keep away from her brothers, after all she was supposed to be the best of them, she couldn’t be caught on the first day of the exercise. 

Dolly unholstered her blaster, smiled under her helmet and started to hunt.


	6. Deep Shit

Sven

He lost him. 

One moment he had been following the first clone he spotted wandering the desert through his scope, the next he was gone. Vanished into thin air.

“Shit!” He breathed into his face covering. “Shit shit shit shit shit!”

He got up into a crouch and slung his rifle over his shoulder. He knew that something had been off when he spotted the lone clone. Something was happening here that he didn’t understand and it made him uneasy. 

Now, he had to find that clone and silence him, it was obvious they knew someone was watching them, there was no other reason for him to have disappeared so quickly. Had he simply fallen, he would have gotten up and re-appeared on the scope. He didn’t. 

Sven looked at his map of the area, there wasn’t much and it was an old map, so it was probably wildly inaccurate, with the sandstorms changing the topography almost daily. He noticed a series of gorges marked onto the map and checked their position in relation to him. Yes, the clone could have gone in there if he thought he was being watched. No matter, that gorge system is a maze, with nowhere to hide and only a few entrances. 

And Sven was over top. He had the high ground. It was the perfect snipers playground.

He stood, and brushed himself off. Covering his face with the headscarf he had and repositioning the rifle he started heading for the gorge.

Smiling, he started his hunt.


	7. The Sniper

RC-36559--Dolly

It took her no time at all to find a spot that she could climb. She made it up to the middle level maze of thin ledges and small tunnels. An hour later she spotted him, the sniper. Undoubtedly the same one who had been watching her. Oh how the tables have turned.

Quickly, so as not to lose him, she shimmied over to a more hidden outcropping and watched as he made his way across the top of the gorge. There was something familiar about the way he moved, where had she seen that before?

Keeping to the shadows she followed the ledge, careful not to knock down any pebbles or hit her head on anything. She shadowed the sniper for a few hours, studying his movements and calculating where he would go next. 

She was fairly certain the sniper was male, the way he moved, and the shape of his shoulders indicated that. He also had fairly large feet, which isn’t unusual in women but less likely. He was wearing proper desert garments, with a headscarf that covered his head, face and neck, as well as most of his upper body. She spotted the rifle he was using, it was a modified R-100 Elite Marksman Rifle; at least he had style.

Wait.

She passed through here already. SHIT. He knows he’s being followed and has led her in circles! 

Why not just shoot her? What is he playing at?

Dolly stopped and looked around for a way up higher; being at this height was a disadvantage, he could shoot her whenever he chose, she was trapped down here.. In the fading light of day she spotted what could possibly level the playing field.

Could she do it? Yes. The angles were right, she had the skill, she just needed to weigh the options. Does she try and lose him again? No, she’s trapped, might as well. She needs an escape route if this goes south though….there, an archway that tunnels down into the rock.

Perfect.

Dolly grinned.

“Hey! Are you looking for me?” She shouted at the sniper and cocked her arm back ready to throw.


	8. Raining Rocks

Sven

He was being followed.

He could sense it, ever since he got to the gorge hours ago, he felt eyes on him. Perhaps the clone had spotted him and was waiting to shoot him. 

Sven stopped and crouched down, pretending to look for something in the gorge, he spotted a tiny bit of movement in the gorge. Curiously it looked like it was floating on the wall. Or flying. Perhaps the clone wasn’t as trapped as he thought.

Looking closer he spotted the thin maze of ledges and outcroppings along the sides of the gorge. It was going to be impossible to shoot someone on those ledges from here, there were too many places to duck out of sight.

He sighed, he didn’t want to get into a firefight, he could just leave this clone alone. After all he wasn’t Sven’s target.

Standing, Sven turned as was about to walk away from the gorge when he heard the clone call out.

“Hey! Are you looking for me?”

Sven looked at the clone and watched as he threw a small object towards him. He followed the object as it hit the rocks beneath his feet. 

He looked back at the clone to mock his aim when the rocks beneath him exploded and the ground slid forward into the gorge.

Sven cried out and desperately scrabbled for something solid to keep him from being crushed under the falling rocks to no avail.

He hit the ground, jarring every bone in his body and wrenching his ankle. He flung himself forward to avoid being crushed by the rocks that were still raining down around him. 

He made it a few feet forward and was heading for a tiny spot against the wall with cover against the falling rocks when he felt a blinding pain on the back of his neck, and pitched forward.

The only thought he had as he drifted into unconsciousness was that, somehow, the clone sounded female.


	9. Confusion

RC-36559--Dolly

It worked!

She had noticed that the ledge the sniper was on was thin, and if she could break the one support holding it up, it would fall, with him on it. 

So she threw one of the grenades she had in her belt. The explosion was glorious. She was showered with rocks and dust, but watched with satisfaction as the ledge, and the sniper uptop slid in the ravine.

Dolly started the climb down, coughing and hacking in the dust cloud she had created. 

Hopping down the last few feet, she landed on the ground of the ravine and looked up, she noticed the massive pillar of smoke and dust that was rising into the sky. Well that was an advertisement to her brothers who were still hunting for her.

Oh well. At least she got her shadow. Now she just had to find him and figure out why he was following her, and how he knew who she was.

She headed towards the pile of fallen rocks along the ravine searching the rubble for the sniper. Gods she hopes she didn’t crush him, even if he was a sniper and was following her.

She spotted movement in the corner of her eye and walked over to investigate. It was the headscarf, caught in the meager breeze. She looked around, did it fall off as he fell or was it a snipers flag?

She crouched down in sudden panic imagining her head being blown off or a bullet slicing through her armour into her heart. Looking around for a hiding place she spotted a spot against the wall with more protection than anywhere else.

She stood and darted towards the wall in sudden panic and suddenly found herself eating the rock. What happened? She must have tripped in her panic. She looked around and spotted what she fell over.

It was the sniper. 

Calming herself down she picked herself up to examine the unconscious shooter. 

She stopped and placed a hand on her chest and sank to the ground. It was Sven.


	10. The Truth

Sven

He hurt. All over. 

What happened? Why did his head hurt? Why did his eyelids feel like they were made of sandpaper? 

Slowly opening his eyes, he took in the night sky. Night. When did it become night? And why did he feel like he should be looking at rock, not sky?

He tried to turn his head and groaned at the pain that laced through his eyes and head and back. 

“Careful.” A woman’s voice cautions. 

Sven looked towards the voice and blinked away tears as his eyes adjusted to the stabbing brightness of the small fire in front of the speaker.

“You got hit in the head by a rock. You might have a concussion but at least you aren’t bleeding.” The voice was explaining as he tried to look at her face; it was useless the shadows were too deep. 

“How did I get here?” He rasped.

“I brought you here. I noticed you were out cold and I knew we couldn’t stay where we were. So I found a way out of the ravines and got the hell away from there.” The woman explained. Why was her voice familiar? Where had he heard it before? And where was the clone?

Sven slowly brought himself to a sitting position and waited for his head to stop spinning. 

“So.” the voice started. “What were you doing hunting me, Sven?” 

“Hunting you? No. I was hunting the clone…..” he stopped. What did she say? She said his name. How did she know that? 

He looked sharply at the woman and noticed what he didn’t see before. The armour. The clone armour.

That’s when it clicked, the silver hair, his name, why she looked so familiar when he first saw her.

“You're a clone.” he stated in a deadpan voice. Why hadn’t he spotted this before? Maybe because all clones are male. Or they should be at least. 

“Yes,” she sighed, “now could you answer my question?”

Her question? “What quest….. Oh right. Well I was actually not hunting YOU. I just spotted you while hunting for someone else.”

“A different clone.”

“Yes. I was hired to kill him. I followed him into the desert and found you instead. At least now I know why the platoon had five members instead of four.” Yes it made sense, when he counted the clones getting on there was one extra, he’d bet all the money he had that she was the extra member. The reason for no one knowing about it was literally right in front of him. 

“Which one of my brothers are you trying to kill?” She asked with menace. “Is it Corr?”

Right, he forgot that clones don’t see themselves as copies but as brothers. “Yes I’m hunting Corr. That’s who I was hired to kill.” There was no point in keeping that from her, if she was going to kill him she would have done so. Sven sighed. “Do you have any water? I think I inhaled most of the rock you blew up under me.”

She tossed him a bottle of water. He took a few sips then tasting the sweetness he guzzled down the rest. Who knew water could taste so good? He wiped his mouth and took in his surroundings. Next to the fire was a small pot with something resembling uncooked food in it, a backpack and a clone helmet. Curiously he saw that at his feet his weapons were neatly piled and cleaned atop his headscarf.

He glanced at the clone, “You cleaned my gear? Why?” He wasn't trying to sound ungrateful to the woman who just saved his ass but he was a little skeptical of her intentions.

She looked at him, and with the shadows cast by the fire, he couldn’t see the expression on her face as she said “You said was.”

“What?”

“You said was. When you were talking about Corr, you said he was your target.”

“Oh,” he did, didn’t he. “Well…..it’ll be kind of hard to kill him now…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I don’t make it a habit to kill the loved ones of the people who save my life.” he said sarcastically. 

“Saved you? I tried to blow you up, then kidnapped you and am now holding you in the middle of nowhere. And you just drank the last of the water. I don’t think that qualifies as ‘saving you’.” Was she being serious or was she mocking him? Sven thought he could hear a little exasperation in her voice. 

“Well I WAS referring to the bar, but I’m glad you brought this up. I’ve really been meaning to ask you.” He cocked his head and grinned “Are you REALLY that bad of a shot? I mean I was right there and you still missed me.” 

Her mouth dropped open in shock and anger. “WHAT!? I missed you on purpose you dolt!” she practically screamed at him. 

Oh she was pissed now. This was probably a bad idea. Pissing off the person who just saved your life and has all your weapons... and the water. “I know. I just thought that you could use a laugh.”

“Why.” She ground out. “That won’t save you if you still plan on killing Corr.” 

Oh. Right. “I don’t. I’m probably going to end up dead for not killing him, hunted down and made an example of but I won’t kill him.” he stopped grinning. There was nowhere he could hide. All he knew was that he couldn’t kill the clone. He looked up at the clone “It would have probably been better for you to have blown me up. Failure is something that...well...isn’t tolerated.” He laid back onto the makeshift bedroll, looked up at the stars and sighed.

“Well, if you aren’t going to kill Corr, then I suppose you might want to meet him?” she asked with a hint of mischief in her voice.

“Why would I want to meet your brother? He’d probably kill me on principle. Let alone the fact that I killed his boyfriend.” Meet her brother? What a stupid idea. He just confirmed that he is an assassin who was hired to kill him, why would she want them to meet?

“Well if you don’t want to meet him, and you don’t want to kill him, you should come with me and hunt him.” she said in a matter of fact voice while laying herself down on the other side of the fire.

“WHAT? Hunt him? I thought I said I didn’t want to kill him.” He was so confused. Was she trying to trick him into saying something that would give her grounds to shoot him? “Why would you want to hunt him with me?”

“Oh I don’t. But he’s hunting me, and by now they will have seen the explosion and found the tracks I laid out for them. By morning they will have realized they were tricked and find the actual tracks I covered up and if you stay here….well they will find you and kill you. After all we are supposed to be in the middle of nowhere, because they think someone is trying to kill us, or at least Corr, and then they find you at the end of tracks leading from the explosion that my tracks went into? They’ll think you are an assassin and you killed me.” 

Sven looked sharply at where she was laying and understood finally why she dragged him out here. He was a decoy. If he was actually dangerous, she could just leave him here, and her brothers will think she’s dead, and kill him. But she’d win the training due to surprise. She was clever. Really clever. It made him like her a little more.

“First off, I was trying to kill Corr, second I am an assassin, or hadn’t you noticed, and third...I DIDN’T BLOW ANYTHING UP!” 

“Well they won’t know that.” She said with a smirk.

Sven choked, is this her trying to coerce him into leaving with her? If so, it was working. “Fine. I’ll help you hunt down your brother.” he said deliberately making his voice sound defeated. He wouldn’t want her to think that he was ACTUALLY looking forward to spending more time with her. 

“It’s settled then, we eat and then we pack up and go.” She said while sitting up and grabbing the pot and unceremoniously clunking it down in the fire. “This will take about five minutes.” She layed back down and stared up at the sky. “By the way, Name’s Dolly.”

Finally. He knows her name. Dolly. Sounds……hilarious. “Really?”

She looks sharply at him.

“That’s your name?” he asks while chuckling.

She looks at him, mouth agape, smiles then starts laughing.

It was probably the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.


End file.
